Sri Lanka: Halt Harassment of Media
JULY 3, 2012
Websites Blocked, Journalists Face Charges

The government raids did not just target two media outlets but were part of a broader effort to intimidate and harass all critical journalists. Sri Lanka’s poor reputation on free speech will only sink lower unless these assaults on the media stop immediately.

Brad Adams, Asia director

(New York) – The Sri Lankan government should immediately end harassment of media outlets and journalists in violation of the right to freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today. In the three years since the end of the armed conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government has expanded its efforts to silence critical views.

On June 29, 2012, the Criminal Investigation Department, acting on a court order, raided the offices of the Sri Lanka Mirror, a news website, and Sri Lanka X News, a website of the opposition United National Party. The authorities confiscated computers and documents, and arrested nine people on the grounds that the websites were “propagating false and unethical news on Sri Lanka.” They were charged under article 120 of the Penal Code, which imposes up to two years in prison for those who “excite or attempt to excite feelings of disaffection to the president or to the government.” The day after their arrest the nine were released on bail.

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